Thank you to everyone that read chapter 3.

Special thanks to cimfam32, guest and angelalexandra!

Vinyl Heaven was a front. Really, all the stores in Magix City that in any way alluded to heaven or angels were a front. There were seven in total. Enough that they could spread out drug shipments to various stores, but not enough to draw a ridiculous amount of attention. Musa was sure that the cops knew that those stores were all Angel fronts, but they'd not done anything about it, so she didn't put much thought into it. Besides, she really liked working at the record store. Music had always been a big part of her life. Her mother had been a singer and had taught Musa how to play guitar and piano. She'd also learned how to play the violin and flute, but those were entirely self-taught, and, in her opinion, she wasn't that good. When she was little, she would dream of being a singer too, of singing on the big stages and entertaining the world. The older she got, the more she realised that those dreams came with complications and unwanted attention on her family. The record shop allowed her to indulge her love of music enough – not as much as she'd like, but enough.

"We're almost out of receipt paper. Do you want me to add it to the supply order?" Aisha asked.

Musa stared at the record in her hand – by the band that had been playing on the radio when she and Riven had met. Why she remembered that detail was beyond her, but then again, she remembered every detail of that night; the way the moonlight had danced across his skin when he'd opened the window, illuminating his strong jawline and toned arms; the way his lips had felt on her skin and how his hands had gripped her hips so tight it bordered on painful, but left her weak and delirious. She flipped the album over in her hands, barely registering the bright swirling colours. She hated the song that was playing that night. It played on the radio way too often.

"Magix to Musa." Aisha clapped by her ear, startling Musa into dropping the record. It hit the ground hard enough that Musa was certain it had shattered. "Where the fuck has your brain been lately?" Aisha asked as Musa bent down to pick up the album.

"Nowhere" Musa sighed. "What do you want?"

In reality, her brain had spent far too much time on Riven. She spent so many nights over the last three weeks thinking about him, imagining him. During meetings, she would find herself slipping away into daydreams that featured him more than she'd care to admit. Last week, she thought she'd seen him on the street and had to do a double take. She was driving at the time and had almost caused an accident. She thought about him every time that stupid fucking song came on – which, again, was far too often – and every time someone said her name – which was almost as often as that goddamn song came on.

"The receipt paper. We're almost out. Should I put it on the order list or did you already order some?"

"That's all you want?"

"Don't be short with me. I'm just asking you a fucking question." Aisha furrowed her brows at Musa. "Did you order receipt paper or not?"

"I don't remember. Order more."

"See what I'm saying: your brain is somewhere else."

"My brain is fine."

"Sure it is" Aisha replied skeptically.

"Fuck off" Musa laughed. This wasn't the first time Aisha'd called her out for being spacey in the last few weeks. Aisha knew her too well for her own good. Of all the girls in the Angels' circle, she, Aisha, Tecna and Stella were the closest in age. Unlike Stella – who had joined their ranks when she started dating one of their members – and Tecna – who had also dated on of their members, now deceased – Musa and Aisha had grown up together. The only two daughters in an army of young boys, they'd clung to each other for companionship, and it had blossomed into a close friendship.

The bell above the door rang, announcing that someone was entering. It was only 10:07, they had just opened and rarely, if ever, did they get customers at this time. An older gentleman, somewhere around her father's age, entered uncertainly with a bouquet of roses in hand. "Excuse me, I have a delivery for a..." he pulled a crumpled paper out of his pocket "Musa."

"That's Musa" Aisha said, pointing at Musa with a wide grin on her face. The man handed her the flowers and wished them a lovely day before quickly excusing himself from the store. Musa placed them on the counter between her and Aisha and looked at them curiously. She found the note attached to the bouquet's wrapping just as Aisha asked: "Who are those from?"

Still thinking about you. Monday. Same place. Same time. -R

Musa managed to school her face, but just barely. He had found her. He was thinking of her. How had he found her? How much was he thinking of her? Was it late at night when he was by himself? Did he use her as fuel for his wildest fantasies? Or did he think of her during the day, when his mind should be elsewhere?

"Hello?! Fucking hell" Aisha hissed, ripping the paper out of Musa's hand. "You really are somewhere else. Who's R?"

"Some guy I met at a bar a few weeks ago."

Some guy that she should very much not be interacting with again.

Some guy who wanted to see her again.

"Ooooh, is this the guy from the night you went downtown alone and showed up here the next morning with hickeys looking very pleased?"

"That's him."

The Dragon. That she couldn't see again.

"He seems very interested" Aisha smirked, pulling one of the roses from the bouquet and giving it a whiff. Musa rolled her eyes at her best friend, insisting that it didn't matter how interested he was because she had no intention of seeing him again. She couldn't. It was better that way for both of them.

"Was he a jerk? That does tend to be what you go for."

"It is not" Musa replied indignantly before reconsidering. Most of the guys she'd dated had ended up being assholes in one way or another. That's what she got for dating within the world of drug dealers. "He wasn't an asshole. At least… I don't think he was."

"Not much talking, hm?" Aisha raised her eyebrows suggestively, the sly, knowing smile still gracing her features. Musa had told her as many details as she could about that night after Aisha had practically beat it out of her. Aisha had gotten a vague physical description – tall, broad, muscular with a face to die for – and an incredibly detailed description of that evening's events – minus the discovery of Riven being a Dragon. To be fair, Aisha had mainly been interested in the latter.

"No."

"So just keep fucking him" She shrugged, dropping the note onto the counter beside the roses. Musa wished she could just explain to Aisha why that was a bad idea, but that would explode in her face there was no doubt about it. Aisha was good at keeping secrets, but even she would likely draw the line at betraying their family. And, as tempted as Musa was to just keep fucking Riven, she couldn't.

"It's not… That's just not a good idea."

The bell rang again. The two girls stalled their conversation just as a leggy woman with cascading blonde hair entered. If glamour had a human form, it was Stella. Never in the four years since Musa had met her had Stella looked anything less than stunning. Even when they would have sleepovers, Stella wore some cute nightgown and had her hair perfectly coiffed. Her bare, make up free face, was the cleanest Musa had ever seen.

"Hello dahlings" Stella greeted, blowing them both kisses before dropping her purse on the counter. She eyed the flowers curiously, inquiring about them. "If you're decorating, I have a few ideas."

"Of course you do" Musa laughed. Stella always had suggestions when it came to appearance. Makeovers were to Stella what music was to Musa or dancing was to Aisha – her breath of life. Most of Stella's clothes had been designed and made by the blonde herself. She had also been a significant force behind the newest Angel front – a boutique, where Stella had a major say in which products were ordered. There was no doubt in Musa's mind that when Stella did get around to creating her own line, it would be Angel funded. And a huge success.

"They're for Musa. From a boy." Aisha slid the note over to Stella, who opened it quickly and read it with great intrigue.

"Ooooh! Is she gonna go?"

"She is not" Aisha replied with a dramatic sigh.

Stella gaped at her, eyes darting between Musa and the flowers. "Why not? If a guy sent me flowers like these, I'd be putty in his hands."

"She says-"

"She is right here and can speak for herself, thank you" Musa grumbled loudly, glaring at her friends. Aisha raised her hands defensively as Stella pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the flowers, completely unbothered by Musa's snapping.

"When did you go on a date anyways? I don't remember that." Stella's eyes stayed glued on her phone as she undoubtedly sent off the picture to poor Brandon along with a teasing comment about how he never got her flowers.

"I didn't. He was just a hook up."

The door chimed as Musa spoke and she prayed against all odds that a customer would ask for help and she could get away from this conversation. Aisha and Stella could gossip about her mystery man all they wanted, but she wasn't down to risk telling her friends about her indiscretion. Especially Stella and her big mouth. Two years ago, Musa had been planning a surprise party for her dad's birthday and Stella had let it slip. By accident, sure, and her father had been a gem about it, feigning surprise when everyone popped out, but it still stood that Stella wasn't always top at keeping secrets. A surprise party was one thing. Fucking the enemy, well, that would get her killed.

"Oh! The one where she came to work looking very happy the next day?" Stella was asking as Tecna walked over to the group. Francis, her late boyfriend, had been mercilessly gunned down running errands by a disgruntled client two years earlier. It wasn't the most honorable of deaths, but he'd been well-loved by the group. An angel always protects their own applied to the groups loved ones too, so Tecna had been maintained as an extended member.

"Mhm. That's the one" Aisha hummed, slipping out from behind the cash to help the older woman that had walked in behind Tecna before Musa could escape. Musa shot her a death glare, but Aisha ignored her as she led the woman towards the back aisles of the store.

"Is he hot?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Are boys all you ever think about?" Tecna should have known better than to ask a question like that. How many times had Stella flirted with random men for fun when they'd gone out? And how many times had she pointed out cute boys to them regardless of their relationship status? Stella loved boys.

"No. But I do like thinking about them, even if I'm only interested in my Brandon" she gushed. For all the flirting Stella did do, she never looked at or talked about anyone the way she talked about Brandon. Her eyes got all soft and she always seemed to float when she talked about him. As she turned to Tecna, her eyes snapped up, gaining a sharp look. "Besides, you can't judge me when I've seen the way you look at Timmy."

Tecna went red, averting her gaze away from Stella. "Exactly" the blonde smiled smugly before turning back to Musa. "Now tell me about him. What's his name?"

Fuck.

"Uh... Ryan. I don't know his last name" Musa replied, thinking on her feet. At no point had she thought they would ask personal information about him. She was actually quite proud of herself for coming up with a common name on the spot. Stella was already looking up Ryans in Magix City on social media and, without a last name, it would be impossible to find the 'real' Ryan.

Stella scrolled through the profiles, flipping her phone to show Musa every now and then. The first few times, Musa pretended to look and think, but by Ryan number twelve, she was over the charade. "Okay! Okay! What about this? Is this him?"

"No" Musa replied, barely looking at the phone that had been shoved in her face. Aisha, who was returning to the cash, snickered at Stella's aggravated expression.

"You're not even looking at the picture!"

"Are you just picking out the ones you find attractive?"

"Yeah? I obviously have the superior taste. I mean, look at Brandon."

"What are we talking about anyways?" Tecna asked Aisha, who pointed to the flowers and handed Tecna the card that Musa had left on the counter. She filled Tecna in on what had happened while Stella continued showing Musa the profile of every Ryan that she deemed attractive enough for Musa to have hooked up with.

"Is this him?"

"No. I don't think he's on social media, Stell."

He wasn't. Musa had already tried finding Riven on every social media in existence. He had no profile anywhere. At least, not under his own name.

"Oh" Tecna said, intrigue rising. "Are you gonna go?"

"No" Musa grumbled, snatching the card from Tecna's hand. She had really hoped that Tecna would be the one to side with her and tell the others to back off, but it would appear that luck was not on her side here.

"Why not? He's sending you flowers after a hook up, he's obviously smitten."

"That's what I said!" Aisha laughed. "You must have like a magic pussy or something. What's your secret?"

"A boy is sending you flowers and you're not going to give him a chance?" The woman asked as she came up to the cash with an armful of records, inputting herself into a conversation that was none of her business. Stella immediately started telling the woman about how this guy was supposedly a god in bed and the woman, much to Musa's surprise – and annoyance – simply looked at her when Stella finished talking and said: "honey, great sex is great sex. Don't waste your good years on bad dick."

"Oh my god" Musa groaned.

"See?! Aisha and I think you should go. Tecna thinks you should go -"

"I have no opinion on the matter" Tecna interrupted plainly.

"Whatever. And this lovely woman thinks you should go. So-"

"I think you should all mind your business" Musa shot back before storming into the back store. She locked herself in and set herself to doing inventory. The hope had been that the tedious task would be enough to distract her, but her mind kept slipping back to the note. It was a stupid idea. He knew it. She knew it. So, why had he sent it? And did he really think she was dumb enough to go for it?